Latest homicide a 23-year mystery

STOCKTON - Lisa Sterzl-Bartlett waited nearly 23 years to find out how her sister died. Now she knows, but she still has more questions than answers.

Jason Anderson

STOCKTON - Lisa Sterzl-Bartlett waited nearly 23 years to find out how her sister died. Now she knows, but she still has more questions than answers.

The Stockton Police Department announced Tuesday that the 1991 missing-person case of Karen Sterzl has been reclassified as a homicide. An anonymous tip led authorities to Sterzl's buried remains earlier this year. An autopsy conducted by the San Joaquin County Coroner's Office recently determined that Sterzl, who was 36 when she disappeared, died of homicidal asphyxiation, police said.

Police believe Sterzl was murdered by Billie Faulkner, the boyfriend with whom she shared a houseboat on the downtown Stockton waterfront when she was last seen Dec. 22, 1990. In May, police found Sterzl's body buried in the backyard of a residence in the 400 block of Park Avenue in Manteca, a home that belonged to Faulkner for many years before his death in July 2012.

"Finally, we have closure, which is a good thing," Sterzl-Bartlett said. "But now that I know for sure - even though we always knew that Billie Ray Faulkner had something to do with my sister's death - now that we know, now that I have the facts, it just makes me so mad.

"What did my sister go through that night? What were the circumstances? All these things run through your head. What happened? What did my sister go through? When you think about that kind of thing - it enrages me."

Police questioned Faulkner at the time of Sterzl's disappearance, but investigators had no proof that a crime occurred until they unearthed the woman's dismembered remains in May. Sterzl-Bartlett said she is frustrated by the fact that Faulkner will never be prosecuted for her sister's death, but she believes there may be someone who should be held accountable.

"Even though Bill Faulkner is dead, I guarantee somebody else knew about it somehow," Sterzl-Bartlett said. "Whoever gave this anonymous tip to the Stockton police - you can't give them a tip if you don't know - so who is that person? Somebody obviously knew something and I'm certainly hoping that somebody's going to pay for this."

Despite her frustrations, Sterzl-Bartlett said she is grateful to police for solving the mystery of her sister's disappearance.

"Thousands of people disappear every year and you never, ever know what happened to them," she said. "I didn't know that we would ever find out, but I am so thankful that the Stockton police never gave this up."

Sterzl-Bartlett said her sister's remains will soon be turned over to the family. Loved ones will gather this spring to lay her to rest.

"We don't know where yet," Sterzl-Bartlett said. "Knowing my sister and the fact that she traveled all over the country, there were certain places she loved, so we need to decide where would be the best place to set her soul free."